Solidarity
by PSYM
Summary: Revised: Harry has another destiny, he's the first of his kind, all because of one spell. He isn't too happy about that
1. The Glitch

The Glitch

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These belong to their respective owners, creators, and various companies with respective rights.

Harry sighed while looking at the mirror in his hands. _It's my fault he's dead_. He thought as he laughed bitterly. _Hermione's right. Who else had a 'destiny' they couldn't escape?_

He looked out the window. "It could've been Neville…but it wasn't." He said sadly. He caught sight of the the photo album sitting next to his bed;. he wondered how many people in the album were dead. He wondered how many of the people would be dead at the end of the second war

"I need fresh air." Harry uttered quietly. Since Hogwarts had let out for the summer, Harry felt like a caged animal. _No one will notice if I'm gone for just few minutes_. He thought. Not that he cared if they noticed to begin with.

Harry quietly moved downstairs looking at the clock on the wall before he exited, 1:43 a.m. He had plenty of time to be outside. He headed toward the park. When he arrived, he noticed the park was darker than normal but ignored it.

He went toward the playground. He'd been at the playground with damaged equipment before. After the third time Dudley had destroyed it the city wasn't bothering to repair it for the time being. He moved toward the swings and he sat down on an undamaged one. He absently started to hum the Hogwarts' school song as he swung into the air losing letting himself be lost in the lull.

Harry came to an abrupt stop when he heard rustling to his left. He kept quiet as he got off the swing with his hand on his wand.

To his left emerged three men and a woman. Each of them was dressed well out of date; it looked like they were wizards that had consulted various dated fashion magazines before going out into the muggle world.

The auburn haired, pale skinned woman looked a lot like the pictures of his maternal grandmother that he'd seen from the 1950's. Despite her unnaturally pale skin and highly immobile hair, the woman was pretty and Harry wondered why he felt the most apprehensive from her before he looked at the others.

The three men were dressed differently, none of them matching their female companion at all. The man on the woman's right was an oddly pale black man who could double for the disco's era poster boy. The man next to him would have fit in wizard society if not for the fact that he did not have a trace of wizard on him.

Harry wasn't stupid, he knew that the Victorian era had left a fashionable impression on the higher-class wizard fashion but knew that they still were on par with some of the muggle fashions.

Lastly, the man to the woman's right was a man with orange-red hair, close to the Weasleys, with a crooked nose. He stood out the most because Harry's attention was centered on the yellow, predatory, eyes. Harry resisted the urge to squirm and wished his inner voice would leave him alone for the moment.

In unison, the four began walking toward Harry. Harry began pack peddling while facing them. Harry quickly shot glances over his shoulder as he pack-peddled.

Even though they all stopped as one, the black man first spoke to him. "Do you wanna join us for dinner, kid?" He asked smiling, but it wasn't a kind smile.

"N-no, I have to go home." He stuttered out as he started stepping back faster not looking behind him anymore. When a cold hand landed on his shoulder, he froze. He pulled out of the unknown assailant's grasp and moving right so he could see both groups. The newest man was shadowed and Harry couldn't help but shudder.

"Well you see," Drawled the woman, once again calling attention to the previous four. "You really don't have a choice." Turning in her direction, he gaped.

Yellow eyes. It hit him as she lunged toward him.

Yellow eyes, ridged forehead and fangs. Not one, but four sets, he would bet that the man to his left held them too. He'd only seen that image in two places: the history of magic and defense against the darks arts textbooks.

"Vam-Vam-Vampire!" He screeched as he backed up and ran to his left only to be stopped by the redhead.

_How did he…?_

"Nice to know you won't die not knowing what we are." He said smiling, fangs gleaming ominously.

The woman laughed, "I don't know, he's kind of cute, I say we turn him." She spoke with an accent, French.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to get eaten! Why are there vampires here in the first place?_

He vaguely thought the last thought. This was not the way he pictured dying, by Death Eaters or Voldemort yes, but not by vampires. He felt his heartbeat in his ears and couldn't make out what they said next but he didn't care. A surge of adrenaline hit his body; he had to get away, somewhere where they weren't so close. He couldn't die here, not as a late night snack!

All four lunged at him; instinct urged him to slam his fist into the nearest one. He felt his breath hitch, his eyes blur, and everything around him was too sharp and unfocused at the same time. He felt them behind him, in front, and to the side; he didn't care how he jumped over them even though it caused them to crash into each other. He made a mad dash for the nearest exit he knew of. He was running, instinct told him to run, he didn't care that his muscles burned with satisfaction, he just wanted to get out of there.

He was running too fast. He knew he shouldn't be able to run this fast. He didn't care. He just needed to get away from them. He didn't stop but instead slammed into someone. Harry didn't wait for their reaction, he jumped back thinking they could be vampires. Stumbling back he drew up and looked up at whom he had crashed into.

He had crashed into a red haired woman. Even though she had a pale complexion he knew she wasn't a vampire. Next to her was an older man, his hair was graying, and he had a scholarly look to him yet there was a slightly dangerous air around him.

"Oomph!" The redhead had drawn before she stood up. "Sorry about that, should have seen you coming." She apologized softly looking unsure.

Harry was disoriented. There had been vampires, and he had run, then these people. Oh Merlin! Vampires! He couldn't leave these muggles to the vampires; they wouldn't stand a chance. He had to get his wand out; he could probably destroy or bind the vampires from this length but not with muggles around.

"You have to leave! I know this may sound crazy but there are vampires behind me!" He screeched emphasizing vampires. On cue four vampires came into view, their game faces on. Harry cursed in his mind; once he started to use his magic, he was sure the aurors would obliviate the muggles, which was something he was trying to avoid.

The red head and older man pulled him behind them. _They weren't surprised_, Harry noted_, they weren't surprised_! He watched, feeling surreal, as the two pulled out stakes. Since when did muggles know about vampires? He vaguely thought.

The vampires lunged at them. The fact that they fought them quite well was a surprise to him. They knew about vampires, making him wonder if they were hunting them. He could only watch them fight in slight awe. What felt like minutes were actually seconds, before he sprang to help them.

Somewhere in it, he had ended up pulling off one of the vampires off the redhead. He didn't recall moving, but he had to help her. All too quickly the vampires turned to dust. He watched in mixed horror and awe as the layers of flesh and bone turned to ash. The last thing he noted was the skeleton, just like the DADA books had described.

"Thanks for the help." the redhead proclaimed while turning to the man. Harry realized she was American, he hadn't noticed before. "Giles, if there are vamps here then that means she might to be close. Now do you know which way to go?" Giles turned to the redhead slightly annoyed.

Shaking the dust off his clothing, this Giles stood curtly looking at the American before he began to clean his spectacles of dust. "I couldn't possibly know, Willow. Check the map. And vampires don't necessarily mean she's here." he spoke at her with a cultured English accent.

Harry felt like laughing. They weren't at all surprised and were the calm ones. Here he thought he would have to pull it together and explain it to them. He watched as Willow pulled out a map.

It was when there was a small illumination coming from the map did he start to suspect they weren't muggles. _Were these two wizards?_ Harry thought overcoming some of his mild shock. _No, wizards would have used their wands. Unless they were trained differently?_ Just because they two could be muggles did not mean they weren't dangerous. He grew wary. _Who are they looking for?_

Harry avoided shuffling from one foot to the next, he didn't want to draw attention to themselves. _Calm down, Harry. _ Taking a deep breath, Harry tried to sort out what was going on.

He still wasn't sure how his body manage to pull off a full grown man's body off of this Willow or how he had jumped over several of them, but he did know that he had to keep cautious. He'd attribute it to magic if he couldn't explain it any other way. He was sure he had heard of people doing extraordinary things under danger, he had done enough of those, but those usually involved magic in his case and not amazing feats of physical prowess.

He kept his eyes on the two wondering if he could get away and regretting leaving his room. When Willow began to look puzzled, Harry wondered if something was wrong. _Okay, vampires could mean that some girl is around. Right, because that makes perfect sense. Kidnapped girl maybe? _

"This can't be right! It says she should be right next to us." Harry didn't bother to look around. He knew they wasn't anyone around them unless someone had and invisibility cloak, which he doubted. He tensed, ready to draw his wand. He discreetly moved slightly to where Willow was pointing. No one with an invisibility cloak. _At least I didn't do that too obviously_. He thought feeling slightly foolish and unhappy.

She turned to Harry puzzled, "Excuse me, have you seen any teenage girls around here by chance?" Willow's tone of voice clearly pointed out that she didn't think he did. _Wait,__**any**__girl? Not just a girl. _

Feeling suspicious, Harry shook his head not completely understanding what was going one. He felt disoriented and everything from mild confusion to anger. He still didn't have the slightest clue what was going on other than these two maybe-non-muggles were acting as if this happened all the time and he hadn't experienced a near death experience again.

_Come on Harry! _He snapped. _Vampires, girl, spell, two people roaming in the neighborhood in the middle of the night. Make it work!_

Willow looked at the map then moved around him and the older gentleman. She looked frustrated as she cried out suddenly, "It doesn't make any sense! It says she should be right here!" She said pointing to Harry. Harry tensed, definitely not normal. Even good Samaritans don't go wandering in the middle of the night with locator spell meant to find teenage girls. _They're either perverts or kidnappers. _He thought. _Or loons, _he thought the last bit good naturedly before realizing that that would be the bright side.

Suddenly, the man looked at him with surprise. "It's him!" There was surprise in his voice. Whatever they were looking for made him incredulous. Harry's suspicions solidified. Middle aged man wandering around with a young woman but she certainly wasn't a teenager looking for a teenage girl but instead had found a teenage boy. That was the problem.

_That's not troublesome behavior at all_. He thought while trying to keep calm. "Boy, what's your name?"

_Okay, At least they're not wizards that recognize me off the bat._ "Neville Longbottom." He snapped irritated at being called boy.

_I need to stop using Neville's name_. He thought. Surely, they would refute it and identify him as Harry Potter in no time at all. He thought positive that his scar wouldn't remain hidden for long if someone insisted he was indeed Harry Potter and demanded that he prove he wasn't.

"I've heard that name before but I can't remember. Giles?" Giles frowned evidently neither could him.

_Probably the Daily Prophet._

"Mr. Longbottom, I hope you will not mind but it would seem that we have a possible misunderstanding. If this doesn't bother would you mind coming along with us? It's not the best method but I'm afraid it seems there's some confusion with our..." he paused while staring at Harry. "You knew about vampires." Harry nodded slowly.

_They finally noticed that tidbit? _

"Do you know about magic as well?" Harry nodded, tensing slightly. "Would you come along with us? It's imperative that this be fixed." He said motioning to Willow's map. A quick incantation and the map lit up. Harry stared, the sight adding to his confusion. _Who are these people!_ He thought angrily.

He held onto his wand even though his heart felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour. Willow seemed to notice his anxiety keeping the map down. "You don't have to come with us, Melvin?" her voice ended with her questioning her choice of name as she tried to pacify him.

_Melvin? How on earth did she get Melvin from Neville?_ Harry made a face; at least that even wasn't his fake name. "Neville." Harry corrected.

She failed to hide her chagrin. "Sorry, Neville." She corrected. "It's just that," She sighed. "It's important that we see what went wrong with this spell. People's lives are at stake." She admitted. _As if I haven't heard that one before. It's probably their lives or hers depending on which of the two is in charge. _

"You find people with it." Harry announced clearly thinking it wasn't a good thing.

"I can. It isn't easy but it's possible." Willow stated. "It's complicated, and difficult to reproduce." Willow said without revealing any real information. "It's meant to locate people we have affected and help them because they may be in danger without the information we provide." She said diplomatically. _Or you could put them in danger with this 'information'. _

Harry was not convinced but tried another approach. "I've lived in this neighborhood all my life, if you tell me who you're looking for maybe I can help?" Which was true, the neighbors would yell at him but he could certainly 'point' them in the right direction. _Preferably as far a way as possible from here. _As much as he hated his family and his childhood some of the neighbors had been kind or were still civil to Harry.

The gazed at each other, Harry knew that look. Willow shuffled. "Um, you see, we're not really sure exactly who we're looking for."

_Merlin hates me, that's the only explanation for this mess or I'm cursed. I really hope I'm not cursed. _"Do you know what they look like?" He asked still keeping his voice good-natured even though he felt anything but that. "Sometimes that helps because as mean as it sounds, if you're looking for a girl who looks like a bull dog, then you're probably looking for the Hermits." Harry shook his head sadly. "It's sad especially since they're lovely people otherwise."

Giles cleared his throat looking uncomfortable. "You see, the spell is meant to locate young women, they should be the only ones affected. If you're affected by our spell then something is wrong." He clarified. "We're not exactly sure who we are looking for but once we spot them we are quite certain we have the gi—target."_He was going to say girl wasn't he?_

"So you want me to come with you to see what went wrong." Harry repeated trying to decide what to do and feeling unsure. They weren't telling him something very important and Harry had no idea what the danger could be. For all he knew they were the danger.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, if we can figure out what went wrong then we wouldn't waste anytime looking at dead ends." Her eyes met Harry.

Harry felt confused and slightly angered. He came out to relax and was now involved in this mess. "And if I don't want to come?" He asked wand hidden in his sleeves.

Giles looked unhappy at the question. "We will not force you to come." He replied although Harry could probably bet that he'd see more of them if they planned to fix the spell if they only had him as the only glitch; that was going to be hard to explain. _He__**wants**__me to come. Her spell, her surprise, his want? Please don't' be perverts_.

Harry grimaced, anger visible. "Fine, just get me back before dawn." He snapped, tired and having run out of patience. _I hate it when Hermione's right._

Willow nodded. "I can do that."

Harry didn't know why, but he had a feeling this was going to be another life changing experience. Sometimes, he really hated his life.


	2. The Surprise

**The Surprise**

"Where are we going to go?" He asked, wand hidden. "My family would probably like to know." _Which would be _the _day Aunt Petunia says she loves me without the influence of alcohol. And means it. _

"Headquarters," Giles responded, tone reserved. He was eyeing Harry as though he didn't like the decision at all. "They're located somewhere in the United Kingdom, we aren't gallivanting to another country, I assure you." Harry nodded.

"Since you are aware of magic, would you mind using magical transportation? It will be the only way to get back in time and the quickest." Harry nodded thinking it would be something like a broom or apparition. As long as it didn't involve a port key, he was fine with it.

"Okay." Willow said smiling nervously. "Here we go." Willow took a deep breath, waved her hands, and… Nothing happened.

Harry looked at them inquisitively. _Maybe they are insane_. He hoped

"Willow, do stop that. He doesn't look like he was lying when he said he knew about magic."

_Nope._ He thought still waiting.

Willow pouted but nodded. "Fine. Spoils sport." Willow smiled at him. "Shazam." she said as she did a quick arm movement.

Harry never saw the world slide under his feet before and appear instantaneously. He stood there amazed as the world suddenly spun, colors melted together and it all blurred, and just as quickly, reoriented itself. If he hadn't been expecting something to occur Harry would have said it was instantaneous but he knew it wasn't. It felt like it didn't but seeing it happen made him realize it.

He tried to rationalize it. The visual sensation was the similar to that of a port key except quicker. It lacked any physical sensation except for the disorientation. The oddest part was that they never touched. Willow, if she actually did it, never had him touch anything or anyone. Both a portkey and side apparition needed physical contact in order to work. Harry did not understand how they had moved so suddenly.

Looking around, Harry noted he was in what appeared to be a small office. Not particularly malevolent or reeking of evil intentions but maybe they were just very well paid bad-guys or like the Malfoys.

The two others looked unperturbed with this event. "Right then," Giles responded. "I'll go inform the others about this. Willow would you?" He motioned toward Harry. Willow nodded.

_Others. There are others?_ He thought imagining a sudden organization of neighborhood stalking people locating teenage girls and doing…whatever they did with them.

Giles quickly left the office. "Take a seat if you want." She said smiling.

Harry looked around the room; it was slightly spacious at the center, the bookshelves lining the one wall along with a few cabinets, the desk looking onto the closed and blinded window. There was a comfortable and worn looking chair behind the desk while another two were sitting opposite of the bookshelves. Harry took a seat there. 

"Sorry for such a mess," She said obviously referring to the stacks of paper, books, notebooks, and coffee cups on the desk. "I wasn't expecting company." She looked embarrassed. "This isn't my office normally." She explained needlessly.

"Um, do you want anything? We have a lounge. You could go there. I probably won't need you until a bit later." She looked nervous, biting her lip. "Are you hungry? Whoever comes back with Giles could take you to the cafeteria or bring some food. Um, you'd need an escort. Not that we don't trust you. Just that it's a big place and you're new here and um." _Not particularly evil sounding but looks can be deceiving. _

Harry shook his head. "I get it." He said smiling slightly. "You don't want me wondering around alone." _Which I really want to do so I can figure out where I am._

"Okay. Um, it could take Giles a bit to get here." She looked around trying to find something for him to do. She sat down behind the desk, moving the chair so it faced him. "So, uh how's it like being British?"

"The usual, I suspect. Tea, fish and chips, trolleys, and tea time, I suppose." He said feeling slightly amused as he tried to recall the few American shows he'd seen involving his fellow countrymen. He had seen some people bend over backwards trying to introduce themselves to him or start a conversation but no one had ever had started a conversation like this. "How's it like being an American?" He paused thinking. "Or are you Canadian?" He really wouldn't know.

"American." She said not stating any thing more specific. "I've never really been asked that before. I guess I'm just use to people being able to tell I'm American."

"I really wouldn't know." He said vaguely too. "I have never really met talked to an American before and I don't watch television."

Willow fidgeted. "So how do you know about magic?"

Harry shrugged. "How do you?" Willow was quiet.

_Vague about it. She hasn't mentioned anything about Salem or asked what at television was. Maybe Muggle born?_

They fell into an uncomfortable silence; neither of them was willing to add anything to either attempt at a conversation. Harry stopped himself from fingering his wand and he saw Willow looking at the clock on the wall. A knock saved them from the awkward moment.

A girl his age stood at the doorframe, she looked at them both with interest and annoyance. She looked at him with brief interest before looking at Willow.

"Wha' ya wan'?" She said in a heavily accent voice.

"Can you look after him?" Willow said motioning to Harry. Harry restrained himself from looking annoyed. "My spell went wrong with him. Can you make sure he's fine until we need him?"

The girl nodded slowly as if she had to process her words before a look of full annoyance came to her face. "Follow me." Her accent had dropped and Harry realized her accent had been that of someone who had woken up too soon. 

Harry didn't know where she was taking her but he wondered if she could have said no to coming to escort him. "So, uh I'm Neville."

"Sam."

Harry followed her down the hallway into what looked to be a break room. She motioned for him to sit on a worn looking coach in front of a television. "You hungry?" Her accent English now clear that she looked to be awake.

"A bit." he admitted.

"We don't got much here unless you wanna go get something." She shrugged.

"What do you have?"

Harry took the sandwich handed to him after a brief talk. He stayed in the room wondering what could possibly be going on with Willow and the spell. He managed to get more information out of Sam about the spell having found her as well as her friends. After making like he knew what she was going on about, Harry managed to gather a bit of information.

When Willow came in looking for them, Harry had a vague idea that whatever organization this was, it was much larger than Harry had thought of before and it didn't look to be as evil as he had thought. After he followed Willow, he saw Sam, who he had spent talk to about safe topics, leaving with a wave. Harry vaguely wondered if he'd see her again.

The woman was silent and had a serious look on her face that made Harry worry. They would up back at the same office with Mr. Giles present but no one else. He too had a serious expression on his face.

"Could you try something for me?" She asked suddenly. The older man's face gave away nothing about what he the question was about.

Harry gave her an odd look but nodded. "Could you try and bend this?" A strip of metal was presented to him. 

"Are you serious?" 

"Could you just try?" 

Harry frowned but did as she asked. He tried finding the metal hard and after a bit of effort managed to bend it quite a bit. She looked at the older man and he nodded. "Could you close your eyes?" Harry did careful make sure no one was moving toward him. The piece of metal was replaced with something else. "Could you try to bend this?"

Harry did finding it easier than the first. There were two gasp and the thing was taken back. Harry opened his eyes to find another piece a metal in the woman's hands. "It fits but it just doesn't make sense." Willow tried. She made a noise. "I've tried every other combination for the spell to target just girls and he's the only one that doesn't fit because he shows up differently." She murmured. "Giles?"

"Mr. Longbottom," The older man began. "did you experience any physical changes latterly? Unexpected bursts of strength, speed, agility?"

"Not really except at the park." He said quietly. "I've just been restless since I lost someone." He said.

Another strangled sound from Willow. "Could I ask when you started feeling restless?"

"About a few months ago." Harry said looking annoyed and nervous. He kept his hand ready for his wand. "I haven't been doing much except housework." He said.

"Would you mind if I try a spell on you? It won't hurt." Willow asked looking as if she was going to have a mental breakdown.

"For what?" He asked suspiciously.

"To see if what the spell says is true." Mr. Giles replied.

"If what's true?" Silence. "What?" He growled.

"Do you have any non-human in you?" Harry looked incredulous.

Willow looked frustrated. "By any chance were you born a girl?"

Harry's eyes widened. "What? No!" He shouted confused hand reaching for his wand. Mr. Giles raised his hands up showing he wasn't reaching for something.

"Neville," The man said easily and calmly. "I don't know how to say this but it appears that you've been affected by a spell of ours. It shouldn't have." He said calmly enough but Harry saw his surprise.

"And what did this spell do?"

"Activate potentials." Willow said quietly.

"Potential what?" He growled.

"Potential slayers." Mr. Giles filled in easily enough.

"What's a slayer?" 

"Something you shouldn't be." Willow said enough.

"Well, I am now aren't I?" Harry said as his temper broke. "So what exactly is a slayer?" His voice was quiet. 

"A slayer is a warrior, a hunter of demons, big bads, a protector." Willow said just as quietly although hers seemed to have come from her shock. "And has always been female so unless you were born a girl, you're…an anomaly." She said as if still unable to believe it.

Harry's eyes widened. "What?" His growled. "NO!" He looked at both of them. "Take me home!" He yelled.

"Neville," Willow began, "if you let us try to figure this out."

"No!" He screamed feeling panic. "You're all insane. You…you take girls and brainwash them don't you?" He pulled back, hand on his wand. "You brainwash them into thinking they're this warrior and then you get them killed and look for another one am right?"

"I don't care what spell you use but I'm…I'm calling the Ministry. They'll put a stop to you and…and then you'll have to try and explain this to the court!" He snapped.

Giles moved toward him. "Stay away from me!" he said pointing his wand at him as the room vibrated. The man wisely took a step back.

"Mr. Longbottom," he tried.

"I won't be your toy." He snapped. "I don't know what game you think you're playing but I won't have any part in it." He felt someone behind him and spotted a dark haired girl who looked to be older than him.

"Willow!" Giles said urgently as the space appeared to tremble around them.

"It's not me!" Willow placed her hands up and motioned for the girl to move away. "Neville, we aren't looking to use you." She said.

"Sure you aren't." He said sarcastically. "And now you're just going to let me go."

"I don't know how you're doing this," She said as she motioned lightly to the room. "but I assure you I won't hurt you. I'll take you back home, I'm going to take just us two to the park where we were." She said calmly. "Alright?"

Harry nodded looking uncertain. "Fine." 

"Alright." The world didn't spin for Harry this time but change suddenly with Willow remaining in the same spot. Harry didn't lower his wand.

"It's just the two of us. Will you listen to me?" Harry didn't move. "Fine, come on, I'll walk you home or to where you want then I'll leave." Harry nodded, he kept his grip on his wand but started walking the long way to the Dursleys. Willow began talking and Harry couldn't help but listen. He listened to her amazing story and how he wasn't normal anymore in any sense of the word.

His anger dissipated as the walked and when he stopped a few blocks his home, she handed him a card. "If you need to contact us." She said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Harry said nothing but saw her vanish. He dropped the card and ran back to the Dursleys. This just couldn't be but Harry knew she wasn't lying. He could feel it.

Harry Potter was a slayer.


	3. The Decision

The Decision

Harry looked Hedwig. The owl stood ready for flight, the letter already attached to its claws. That letter would inform the Order where he would be and why. Harry had several versions of that letter sitting next to him on his bed. Harry wondered whether or not he could rewrite it one more time.

It was late afternoon and Harry desperately wanted to talk with someone. He felt his fists tighten. He wanted Sirius back because he was truly the only adult he felt he could talk to about these things even if he lied a bit about it.

Except that was a lie. Harry felt guilty over his death. He was supposed to be a big hero and the news earlier that morning had only reinforced the expectation. He didn't feel much like a hero.

_Am I supposed to be hero though?_ Harry wondered again unable to keep battling with himself. _I'm supposed to save the world or save the world from people like Voldemort. _He smiled ruefully. _A soldier?_ That was all Harry could think about.

He didn't think people wanted him because of whom he was but of what he was supposed to do. Harry reached out for the letter again. Hedwig hooted softly at him as if sensing his distress. "I'm sorry, girl." he whispered. "I'm sorry."

He kept his hand on the letter. "I'm running out of parchment." He muttered. Tucked the pieces of paper into his trunk. He didn't want anyone to find the letters. "I'll write to them later." He had to think about it.

_Because you didn't with the Department of Mystery?_

Harry flinched. "I need to talk to someone." He told Hedwig. He thought about those he trusted. Ron would either become understanding to some degree but it was also very likely he'd become jealous and pigheaded with him. Harry smiled slightly. He loved Ron like a brother but Ron's major flaws didn't help his own. 

He moved on to Hermione. He could almost hear her in the room. "_You honestly can't believe this tripe can you?" She said huffing. "Honestly Harry," She glared at him, opened her mouth and yelled. "BOY!"_

Harry looked at the door. Vernon was glaring at him. "I said dinner is ready!" he huffed. "Have you gone deaf as well?" He growled.

"I'll be right there, Uncle Vernon." Harry said watching the older man ignore him. They obviously wouldn't be any help.

0-------------------------0

Harry looked at his plate, he was stuck doing the dishes but didn't care this time. He was too tired tonight. 

_I have to tell the Order something. I can't just vanish to nowhere or it'll be third year all over again._

_Except what if I can only do what I'm doing because of a spell? I can't use magic or they'll find out. _He thought referring to the Ministry. Harry grabbed the dishes feeling one crack in his grip. He growled. _Great. _

0-------------------------0

Harry paced. Petunia had yelled at him for breaking her dishes but Harry was beyond caring at the moment. He felt like he could go three rounds with the willow, out run a vampire, and play a long Quidditch match even though he just wanted to get some rest.

Why did those two have to be there yesterday! Why couldn't they just have left him alone and he'd never known about this stupid "slayer" thing. He couldn't ignore the extra energy that seemed to be humming underneath his skin. Harry wondered how he hadn't noticed it but…

Harry forced himself to lie down. The energy he felt before seemed to have gone out like a candle leaving him exhausted. Ignoring the concerned hooting Hedwig was sending him, Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep feeling that tomorrow was a better time to deal with it.

When Harry opened his eyes daylight blinded him. Closing his eyes, Harry groaned when he realized he felt just as tired as last night and the hours he had slept felt like minutes. Yet, the night had been long, he had been plagued by nightmares and bad dreams. Careful to open his eyes, Harry squinted away from the sun and looked around for his alarm. The clock read 8:02 a.m. but the sun looked to be at midday.

Grabbing his glasses, Harry headed downstairs ready to her Petunia's whining at how lazy he was. He found the kitchen and living room empty which he found a bit odd given that Petunia hadn't told him about an outing today. Deciding to just get his chores over with, Harry started on them only to find that there was nothing to clean. Feeling unnerved, he went back to his room to finish the letter only to see that there was a letter already written on his desk.

Feeling more unnerved, Harry turned to Hedwig only to see her cage also empty. "Hello?" He called finding it eerie that his voice was so loud.

"Aunt Petunia?"

There was nothing to answer him. Deciding to look out the window, Harry realized that he was dreaming since he couldn't see beyond a perfectly trimmed garden

"Right." Wondering how he was going to wake up, Harry went back to the desk and looked at the letter.

The words seemed to float over the parchment but Harry was certain he could read them.

_If I die because this was an elaborate trap, I can't tell you where to find them._

He read unable to actually believe he would write that. The words changed as if sensing this.

… _I don't know the exact the location except that it's in the country._

Better. Harry frowned and tried to work it out figuring he might as well make what he could of the dream. When he finally had the letter he wanted, Harry felt himself wake up. Although he felt more rested than he had in his dream, he still felt rested. Remembering the letter, he got up and jotted down what he remembered from the dream as it started fading into memory.

Harry spent the morning writing until Petunia knocked on his door. Harry scurried down to breakfast and felt much calmer, and although Harry still hadn't decided what he was going to do, he had a better idea of his options. He ate slowly making sure to note the pros and cons that he could note about what he knew about the 'council'. He tried to make out what they tried telling him last night and knew he wouldn't recall anything he already didn't think over.

Hmm, it was time to contact people and Harry was going to get answers whether they liked it or not. Of course, that was harder than it sounded. Harry sighed around a mouthful of eggs before nearly choking after inhaling. Yeah, he'd all the information he could get.

0-------------------------0

After two days of trying to get what information he could get from the library, the internet--which he had a lot of difficulty using but the librarian had been helpful with that—and a few letters, Harry had the made his decision even though he wasn't completely certain with it.

So it was that at 1:59 p.m., Harry Potter vanished from Number Four Privet Drive with no clue to his location for his guards other than a black muggle car vanishing in the distance. At 10:01 p.m. when Harry hadn't come back, the Order knew something was off.

0-------------------------0

Harry Potter was only slightly nervous after the Watcher had left storming out of the house with him after he had introduced himself with the Dursleys. Even though Harry had decided to go, the Council had demanded a meeting with his guardians.

At one of the afternoon that day, after a few calls and a few emails from a newly set up email account and a lot of work with it, Harry had a meeting with the Council over his choices. He was surprised they hadn't contacted him but suspected that his reaction wasn't that unusual, if not in a more female form, after a bit of thought.

Harry had worried about finding out how to contact the Council outside of them finding him when he wasn't ready but had been surprised to find a card in his pocket with contact information. He had been angry and relieved when he found it wondering what gave them the right to just place it on him but had calmed down realizing this might be helpful for what he needed.

At one, Harry opened the door to reveal an olive-skinned man with dark hair in a khaki pants and a white button up shirt. He smiled when he saw Harry as if unsure what to do with him. "They didn't tell you did they?" He asked.

The man looked confused but nodded. "No, there was a bit of excitement this morning so it was rushed." He looked embarrassed. "I'm here for Ms. Neville?" He guessed.

Harry blanched he'd forgotten about that part. "Er, I'm Neville." He cleared his throat. The man looked a bit shocked but nodded as though slowly coming to terms with the fact. "Um, my name isn't actually Neville." he took a deep breath. "I'm Harry." He introduced leaving out his surname.

The man nodded as he swept his hair back with his hands. That movement caught attention of something; the man must have seen his look because he smiled as if on familiar ground. "My eyes are reddish." He said smiling. "Family trait." He said grinning. "I usually say they're brown though because that disturbs people a lot less." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Adish Olmo, nice to meet you, Harry. I guess I'll be the Watcher of the day, now if we could get with your family?"

Harry shook his hand while his eyes lingered just a bit longer on his eyes, although he'd said red, Harry found himself comparing them to Voldemort's. This man had more rust colored eyes than Voldemort or rodent red eyes. Shaking himself back to the moment, Harry led him toward the sitting room. He'd timed it so it was just Aunt Petunia in the house.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry called. The woman turned to him and her face contorted in distaste as if unsure what to make of the new comer before slipping into a pleasant mask.

"Yes?" Her voice was neutral.

"Um, this man needs to talk to you." He stopped. The man seemed at ease, smiling at Petunia.

"I'm Adish Olmo here to talk to you about your nephew." He said easily.

Petunia's face contorted into displeasure. "Petunia Dursley," She introduced snidely, "What are we discussion about the boy?"

"Mrs. Dursley, I work for an organization that-"

"About what do you want to talk about?" She snapped.

"Your nephews abilities," He began again.

"We will not discussion that!" Her face contorted into rage. "Your kind always comes in here uninvited over him! We are not discussion any of his freakishness anymore."

The poor man look affronted and Harry had the urge to butt in but saw something the other man's face that stopped him "Our kind ma'am?"

Petunia glared at him. "Yes, your kind. Wizards." She spat.

Although there was no shock at that revelation, it was suddenly clear that they were speaking about different things when Mr. Olmo held up his hand and spoke. "Ma'am, I do not represent any wizard organization. Although I'm disappointed that your nephew did not inform you about this meeting, I am now merely asking for your permission to take him for training this summer.

"I was here to inform you about your niece er nephew's situation and possible actions that could have been taken." he said calmly although Harry saw his fingers twitch uncomfortably.

Petunia's eyes narrowed and looked at him suspiciously. "You're taking him?" She asked not really caring about the rest of the information.

"With your permission." He stressed.

"Then take him."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. The man looked displeased, "You don't want to know where?" He asked as is unable to believe it and not wanting to accept it.

"He always goes off, I don't see how this is any different." As if that explained everything, Petunia set to get him out of the house. Harry nervously went upstairs to pack while his aunt and the man talked. He knew he'd be leaving but the tension between the two just wasn't helping him. After a quick round up of his belongings, Harry headed downstairs only to find Mr. Olmo with his trunk and school supplies looking a bit rumpled but ready to escort him to his car. Harry didn't see his aunt but heard her in the kitchen.

"Your Aunt has given permission." He rubbed his eye and Harry had the distinct impression that his aunt had punched him. Harry wondered what he'd said that made his aunt snap but having heard no screaming, Harry decided it wasn't that bad. _Keep telling yourself that, Harry. _

A moment later, Harry was in a car driving off leaving behind his childhood home once again. Harry felt a pang of regret that he hadn't left with the Weasleys instead and a larger pang when he wished he could go back to the Black home if only Sirius was there. It didn't take long for something to distract him when Olmo started speaking again.

"So Mr. Potter, how did you get yourself into this?"

Harry flinched. "How do you…" He trailed off.

"Just a bit of clues, muggle relatives, the name Harry and your trade mark scar became visible after a few minutes, Mr. Potter." The man said calmly.

"Would you believe I had no idea?"

"Yeah." His voice change slightly. "Ahem, allow me to introduce myself again Mr. Potter, I am Adish Olmo replacement Watcher for the Council because the man who was going to meet unfortunately had an accident last night." He looked uncomfortably.

"What happened?"

"He's in a coma."

"Oh."

The man gave him a weak smile. "No worries. I'll be looking out for you although you won't be training as a slayer, officially at least." He smiled. "I'll insist on it.

That surprised Harry. "Why?"

"Cover, Mr. Potter. I was told that much." He made an unhappy sound. "I wish I was told more but I'm not exactly certain what's going on."

Harry backtracked in his mind. "Are you a wizard?"

"Yes." Harry froze as a look of panic swept over his face.

"Are you taking me to the Order?"

A look of confusion. "What Order? Mr. Potter, I was chosen for this because I am a wizard, much easier and less complicated to have people who know about the wizarding world to deal with each other." He took a deep breath. "Why don't we try to get on the same page first though?"

Harry nodded.

-------

At the same time that the watcher and wizard were getting on the same track, a letter finally reached the Order of the Phoenix. It went unread for another hour until someone noticed it, by then it would be too late to stop Harry.


	4. The Very Long Day

The Very Long Day

A few hours later and Harry was finally relieved to see London. Although they had stopped for lunch, Harry was anxious to finally get to the council location. He'd learned a bit more about the situation in the few hours with the watcher but Harry didn't want to leave his faith in a man he had never known before. When he had learned that he was a wizard, Harry had made sure to keep his wand in easy reach and to be ready to spring away.

Adish, as the man had made him call him, had turned out to be a twenty eight years old, a college graduate and had recently gotten his doctorate in Classics. Harry was well aware that the man was trying to make him feel at easy and even though he'd rambled on and on about a particular subject Harry asked he never looked quite comfortable. He had the feeling that Olmo had just started this business although he wasn't new to the magical world.

As Olmo escorted him into the worn building, Harry was overjoyed to see Hedwig flying toward him. The man looked ready to attack his poor bird but seeing Harry's face, the man restrained himself. Harry took his owl without a word and entered the building.

As they passed a receptionist, Harry wondered what type of place this was exactly. After moving down a hall and toward some elevators, the journey here seemed to be getting more disappointing than he'd thought it'd be. Harry was expecting some grander thing but what Harry didn't know.

A while later Harry had left his things in what appeared to be guest rooms and walked with Olmo toward what Harry recognized as the office area he'd been in. After making sure he guessed the streets rights, Harry made a note to have Hedwig ready with the location if anything happened to him. Of course that was if he remembered but Harry had faith that he would.

When they walked into what looked to be a meeting room, Harry knew there would more people. Olmo sat to his left with a good deal of distance between them. They remained sitting in silence until Harry saw the redhead, Willow, filing in looking more tired than Harry had remembered her. She smiled at him and offered him what looked to be several pastries.

Harry politely declined both from suspicion and nerves. He knew that if he stayed he'd have to start trusting them but Harry had no real clue about their loyalty other than what they had told him. Harry wondered how long it would take for him to feel comfortable with them. The only place he had felt safe was Hogwarts and that feeling of security had faded over the years, Hogwarts was indeed safe but not as safe as Harry had believed it to be. Harry knew it was one of the safest places because of Dumbledore.

He frowned as he turned his attention to Willow and the new guests. A short blonde, Mr. Giles, and a tall girl that looked to be about his age had entered and had seated opposite of them. The two new comers looked at him with uncertainty but when the door closed, Harry thought things would get started.

"I thought it would be best if we kept things quiet and simple." Mr. Giles said quietly. "Mr. Longbottom," He heard snickering and Harry felt a bit embarrassed. "I'd like to introduce you to Buffy and Dawn Summers." He took a deep breath. "They're here because they were part of the situation that brought the existence of multiple slayers about." he gave Olmo a pointed look. "I see you are still here."

Olmo smiled. "Yeah, 'm not leaving him." He smiled wider. "He falls under the jurisdiction you set out for me anyways." He gave a brief pause as if wondering whether to go ahead and reveal Harry's real identity but didn't. Harry would have kissed the man at that moment but decided he didn't want to be called Neville's name all the time.

"Guess I should introduce myself then." Harry spoke nervously. "My real name isn't Neville, it's Harry." Harry took a breath to stall but spoke the next words surely. "Harry Evans."

Giles nodded. "As you may now be aware of Mr. Evans, this is an unprecedented event. Frankly," The man looked straight at him. "you shouldn't exist, Mr. Evans."

Harry shrugged not knowing what else to do. "Why?" He hadn't asked that before.

"Because there slayer spiel goes 'one girl in all the world blah blah blah' and it was like that forever until a while ago." Dawn said easily enough.

"Now every girl who can be a slayer will be except you seem to be the only boy so far." Buffy said, confusion and frustration marring her voice.

Willow smiled weakly at him. "I checked and checked but it looks like you're the real deal." She said. "I'm actually glad you contacted us. I was worried after you stormed off last time." She admitted. "The truth is the same, slayers are meant to fight demons and big bads." She saw his jaw tighten. "It's a dangerous job and I'm sorry but there's no way to reverse it." She took a deep breath and pulled out a few papers. "That's what we're here to talk about actually."

The papers were pushed to him. Harry looked at them. They was a brochure of a school and a paper that seemed to explain something. Although there was a bit of murmuring in the background, Harry was left to examine the papers in relative peace.

The school was aimed at girls although Harry wondered why he was being offered this until he read a bit about summer programs. That caught his attention better; he couldn't attend a girl school or their few co-ed programs they mentioned because Harry was not leaving Hogwarts. Summer seemed like the only time he'd be able to get to know more about this organization and if they really were going to help him with his…situation then Harry was seizing it. He looked over the other papers quickly noting that it looked like a training program.

"Er, so what do you want to talk about?" 

"Training." Buffy said. "We train the girls at our schools or in the summer but you go to a special school, right? And some of the parents don't want the girls out of the country so long so we offer summer programs."

"It would have to be in the summer and I couldn't spend all of it here." Harry explained wondering how he would try to explain going with the Weasleys, having to stay at the Dursleys and the blood protection. Of course he could just lie. "It's a complicated situation." He chose to say instead. They nodded, at least that was reasonable he thought relaxed.

"As long as you get trained and know how to defend yourself." Buffy said seriously. "Not all our girls fight but given that trouble seems drawn to us, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Harry nodded relieved. 

"He still is training under the guise, am I correct?" Mr. Olmo interrupted.

"Yes." Giles confirmed before looking at Harry. "It is in the best interest for your safety. You will still be interacting with other slayers here at the facility and Buffy will spar with you when she can until we can get someone to spar with you regularly."

Harry felt a bit angry. "Why the secrecy?" He asked his temper evident.

"Mr. P-er, sorry, Evans," Olmo said. "you already are a target imagine what demons would do if they learned about your existence. You would make a good trophy for some, possible experiment for others, simply put, your emergence would be seen as some new threat because I'm quite certain no one outside this room would believe you are a um slayer."

Buffy nodded. "Yep, heck if I saw you fighting like I did I would probably think you were a demon but," She hesitated, "you feel human so I'd be hesitant to kick your ass." She finished with a grin.

Dawn made a note on a paper she had but spoke up clearly. "We don't really know what's up with you." The others shot her a dirty look. "What? We have to tell him some time. I mean, all we know is that he's here and he registers as a slayer." She said huffing. She looked at Olmo. "Why are you here anyways? I don't mean to sound rude but…" She trailed off.

Giles sighed and Willow just knew something was big. "Travers is still in a coma," he said uncomfortably. "Olmo was the second person on board that knows about the kind of magic Mr. Evans uses."

Buffy looked a bit surprised. "He uses magic?"

Willow jumped up. "Oh, I get it. He's a witch! A guy witch right? That stick I saw last time was a wand." As if that explained everything.

Dawn seemed to catch whatever Willow was talking about even though Buffy looked confused. "Oh, yeah." She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Remember Buffy, the girls use wands, some of their family hasn't come to the 20th century yet?" That seemed to clue Buffy.

"Like Izzy?" Dawn laughed.

"Yeah, like _Isabel._" Dawn said in an exaggerated Spanish accent. She looked at Olmo. "She still going on about that?"

Olmo nodded. "The girls just call her Maria." He explained. At Harry's curious glance, he smiled. "Maria Isabel is a slayer from Spain who is also a witch from a mixed blood wizarding family." He explained. Harry just nodded.

"They were using torches." Buffy said frustrated.

"That wasn't a normal wizarding home." Olmo said frustrated.

Dawn sighed. "It looked like it was from the Middle Ages."

"It was built in the Middle Ages." Olmo argued.

Willow waved her hand to break up the emerging argument. "Uh guys back to the who why we're having a secret meeting thing."

Buffy and Dawn just shrugged. Olmo looked flustered. Harry wondered if they were his bosses since that was the impression he was building. Harry noted Mr. Giles wrote a few things from their conversation and was waiting patiently.

"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked. 

"You'll stay with Mr. Olmo until we can decide where you'll be staying." Giles seeming to understand that teenagers were difficult by nature added, "You'll have a choice of course but placing you to board with the other slayers isn't a choice right now." Harry nodded, that made sense. "As for your training, since it appears you aren't going to be an active slayer, I would suggest martial arts, weapons training and basic demonology." Giles said easily enough. "It may be that you will have to take a few more courses if you want to keep the guise up I'm afraid." he explained.

"What type of classes?" Harry asked carefully.

"Language classes but most of our watchers go to university in order to be certified. If you were beginning to start training then this wouldn't be a problem but your age is."

"You can say he's like me." Dawn pointed out. "I'm not in college yet but heading the watchery route." 

"I could make things as they come along." Harry added. At the adults disapproving looks, he rolled his eyes. "Or we could all agree on one together."

"So where do we start?" Willow said. The group started talking.

0----------------------0

Harry bit the burger happily, it had been a while since he'd eaten a hamburger and lunch seemed like it had been years ago. Olmo sat across from him in the local McDonalds near his flat. It had taken a few hours to fabricate and get plans straight but Harry had an idea of what the next few weeks of his life was going to entail. For a while, Harry guessed, he could live with the lie and try to be a semi-normal teenager this summer that had just discovered about the supernatural.

Harry's thoughts whirled as he took a sip of his drink, it was going to be difficult hiding the fact that he was either a slayer or Harry Potter from people because it had been deemed necessary for him to actually spar slayers and not just train. He sighed, there was also the fact that he would be meeting the other witches as Olmo's assistant tomorrow. Today though he was receiving a make over. He shuddered; it was bound to go wrong.

After lunch, Olmo took him to a salon because even though Harry had insisted a wig was fine, it would come out and then there was the fact that he needed longer bangs to properly hide his hair. Harry sighed; life as Harry Evans would probably fail in under a week before someone discovered he was Harry Potter.

A few hours later, Harry looked at his hair and grimaced, he knew he shouldn't have left it to the hairstylist. He should have asked for dirty blond but Fransico (who was actually named Francis) had insisted that blonde wouldn't look good on Harry at all. After a quick fitting with the wig, Harry had had to agree if only out of amazement because he had no way of knowing from where the young stylist had pulled it out. Then after the man had began to ramble, Harry felt it was just easier to agree on a natural hair color that wasn't black or white blonde. Harry wanted to fade into the background not stand out.

He regretted it for a moment. He looked to be closer to Lily's son now than James' with the dark red hair but it wasn't Lily Potter red nor was it Weasley orange. Harry had a shade of red that could have passed for brown in some people's eyes. It would do though especially if it was red-brown, it would make describing him harder and make him blend in easier. He smiled; his hair was long enough to hide his scar thanks to some well-placed extensions, now all that was left was his glasses.

After Olmo said a rather intimate good bye to Francisco/Frances and a promise to visit when he needed to retouch his roots "On the house," Francis had said, they were off to the optometrist. "Mr. Olmo," Harry said looking a bit annoyed at the preoccupied man.

"Mr. Evans, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Adish?" He huffed. "I'm listening, despite how it may look."

"Fine." Harry said unhappily. "I was going to ask if we had enough time to eat something."

The man nodded. "Are really hungry our could you wait long enough to have a check-up?"

"After."

"Then let's hurry." Harry agreed.

0----------------------0

At the end of the day, Harry mumbled his thanks to the older man as he placed dinner in front of him. Harry knew it hadn't been the end of his "transformation" because to complete the change, Harry couldn't look like Harry Potter with red hair. He frowned. This was turning out much stranger than he'd expected. Of course, this was just the tip of the ice burg.

Later that evening, Harry was escorted to what looked to be a gym. "Tonight, I just want to see how you react. Hit me or block me but until you're too tired to move, this isn't going to end." Buffy said. She shrugged. "I've been doing this for nearly ten years, some demons have been doing this for centuries. Let's see how you do." She said with a smile.

Harry jumped back as she lunged at him and began to feel the adrenaline hum under his skin. Things definitely went deeper than this, he thought as he ducked her swing only to meet her knee. Yeah, way more.


	5. The Wayward Beginning

The Wayward Beginning

Harry was nervous, he had no real idea about what he looked like because he'd been hurried to meet the other slayers. Earlier that day he'd been clothes shopping, tailoring a look uniquely for his new identity. Of course Harry had wanted to look normal so his clothing was nothing to extravagant other than a few ensembles that Dawn had insisted upon. He grimaced; he hated the fact that he had to hide.

Stretching to work out the kinks from last night, which had turned out to be one of the most physically tiring and painful ones he could recall. Grumbling, he waited for the watcher to come out. After a bit of shuffling, a loud band, and a muffled curse, the watcher was limping towards Harry. "Come on, we're late." He said sighing.

Harry easily kept up with the limping man; they were walking to another building nearby that housed most of the girls. Harry listened to Olmo speak his back-story. It had been only yesterday that he'd forged a new identity for himself but the identity lacked substance. Harry didn't feel like Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, or Harry Evans, Watcher in Training/slayer-somehow, he just felt like Harry, boy that had everything odd happen to him. He listened though and tried to keep the story straight. As they reached their destination the watcher fell quiet; he didn't want unwanted ears to pick up anything.

"Er, so how many slayers do you have?"

"Me?" The man said as if caught off guard. "Technically, none but I have three under my watch because they'd have been transferred as soon as I was done with training." he shrugged. "Officially that's been put off for more important things," He shrugged. "Doesn't matter really. A lot of paperwork is backed up right now.

"Either you'll get me or Bert as you're watcher but seeing as Bert's…unavailable and you're under the guise of my assistant or whatever, you'll probably be under my watch for the moment." He looked at Harry. "We'll obviously tell you when you switch watchers, if you do, I mean."

Harry said nothing to this bit of information. As the silence settled between them, they had finally arrived at the building. A quick show of identification from Olmo had Harry in and down halls toward their destination. Harry saw that it looked like another flat but when they entered it looked like it had been converted into sort of a small dorm. He saw a few girls in there and they quickly turned their attention to him. The silence that fell upon the room was thick but not uncomfortable.

A few seconds later and Olmo spoke. "Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to my new assistant Harry Evans. Mr. Evans, these are the slayers you will for the most part be working with." He smiled at the girls. A few murmurs and the girls nodded before a few more appeared from the back looking intensely at Harry.

Harry decided it would be polite to introduce himself even though he had been presented. Olmo seemed to understand this and smiled. "I'll leave you to get acquainted and will be back later with lunch." He left before anyone could protest.

The girls stared at him with suspiciously and curiously. Harry cleared his throat. "Hi, I'm Harry." A tall, thin dark haired girl approached him. Her eyes were dark and Harry had the feeling that he was being judged the same way a lot of purebloods did.

"Are you a wi…magic user?" She changed; her accent was heavy but understandable.

"I'm a wizard." He said easily enough. "I go to Hogwarts." He wondered where to continue from here. The girl's attitude still didn't change but her eyes grew a little less tense.

"Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts." Someone in the back said. The girl came forward cutting off the first girl's inquiries. The girl who had come was a dark redhead, dressed in muggle clothing, short and didn't seem to care about him at the moment. Her dark green eyes looked at him curiously and Harry knew he had a fan. "Have you met Harry Potter?" She asked. Harry decided this was a time to lie.

"Not really, I mean we're in the same house and year but never really talked." he shrugged. "He always looks busy." He finished in annoyed tone.

The girl didn't stop with her inquiry. "You share the same name." She said.

"And so do another million bloody people in the world." he said annoyed. "It's not my fault my grandfather was called Harry too." He huffed. She irritated him now. "It doesn't matter what bloody Mr. Potter does now does it. I'm just saying hi and trying to know you not talk about i him /i . " He finished in an angry tone.

The girl looked a bit shocked by his tirade. "I'm sorry." She said embarrassed. "It's just…" she didn't finish. "Never mind." She cleared her throat. "I'm uh Shannon. From Belgium."

Harry nodded. "Nice to meet you, Shannon." He said offering his hand. She shook it quickly before heading toward the to her original position. The room had quieted down once it had been clear that Harry was not interest in speak about himself or Harry Potter at least.

The first girl spoke again. "I am Marlene, with an e not an a." He looked confused. "My name ends in an e not an a." Harry just nodded and guessed it had to do with her name being said like Marlena. "I'm German." She said haughtily.

"I'm English." He said in the same tone. Funny enough, Marlene smiled as if finding something amusing.

"Dis is Anneliese," She said pointing to a girl. "She doesn't speak good English but she understands it good."

The girl in question waved. She was taller than Harry by a good deal and Harry grimaced wondering if everyone else in the world was taller than him. He saw her black hair pulled back into a clip and her grey eyes looking calmly at him. "Hello, Anneliese." She rolled her eyes.

"Lisa." He nodded. 

"Hello, Harry." A very accented and quiet voice called him. Harry turned to look at a girl around his height and age. The brunette was standing next to a similar looking younger blonde girl. "I em Katja de Jong. Dis is my sister Lieneke."

Harry shook their hands. A dark haired girl introduced herself next. "I am Maria Isabel." She said in slow English. "I am Spanish."

Harry couldn't help it. He smiled slowly, took her hand and said calmly, "Hi Izzy."

Her face twisted into a grimace. Harry grinned. "Ms Summers says hi."

She smiled slightly. 

"Call me Izzy again and…" She let the threat die out. "Call me Maria or Isabel."

"Alright, Maria." He said intending to do it again later but not until he knew her better. "And you are?" He asked the brunette who was sitting on the coach ignoring him.

The girl looked up, brown eyes looked over him quickly. "Je suis Cecile."

"Nice to meet you all then." They fell silent. "So are all of you witches?"

"Yes, we are." Shannon answered. The youngest of the girls, Lieneke, babbled something to her. "But we are all not slayers, Katja is only a witch."

Harry nodded not bothering to be nosy; he was probably going to learn later why she was there anyways. "So Harry, why are you here exactly?" Marlene demanded. 

"I'm Mr. Olmo's assistant for the summer. I'm training to be a watcher."

"Why?" 

"I was attacked, they saved me." He said not indicating who they were. "It got complicated." He let his weariness overcome him. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Fine." A reluctant Marlene agreed. "So, Evans, why are you going to do now?" She asked.

"Call me Harry. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. I was here to meet you but now, I don't know." He shifted uncomfortably before remembering a few things. "What time is it?"

"It is nearly twelve, why?"

Harry relaxed slightly. "My first class is in an hour."

"What classes do you take?"

"Self defense, weapons, demonology and some private tutoring."

"In what?"

"Languages." Harry answered easily because it was true and the other part that he hadn't mentioned was sparing and more intense physical defense lessons that slayers normally took.

"French, German, an introduction in Sumerian and Greek. Nothing too complicated since I probably won't be speaking them for a while. It's more a focus on grammar, vocabulary, and basic phonetics with French, German and Greek." All of this was part of his cover and Harry knew he would be busy for the rest of his summer here. 

"What about you?" He asked politely.

A half an hour went on with polite conversation. There was no prying any more than a few inquiries about the class itself at the council property and occasionally their respective magic school.

Harry learned the girls' countries of origin at times but others offered fewer details than other like Marlene. The German witch would talk rather stilted as if she didn't know what to actually say when she spoke. Harry dodged around questions and knew he wasn't gaining any favors as he avoided divulging as many details as he received. 

A few minutes later and Harry excused himself. "I'm off to class." Harry said easily before trying to find his way out of the building.

"Of course I'm going to be late again!" Harry yelled as he ran to his class, which unfortunately happened to be a few blocks away. It did not help that he had to pick up a few things for his class first.

As Harry was running off to class, Olmo burst into the girls' living room looking winded. "Where's Harry?"

"He just left." Shannon added in a thicker accent than normal.

"Damn," The Watcher sighed. "and here I thought I'd escort him."

0------------------0

When Harry arrived to his class, he noted that the room was sparsely filled and wondered if he'd arrived at the wrong room. When a dark haired man with bright blue eyes glared at him, Harry knew he was late. "Mr. Evans?"

"Yes,"

"May I ask why you are late?" His voice was oddly accented and Harry couldn't place it at all.

"I was lost."

The man looked bemused. "Lost? We are not more than 3 blocks from the dormitories."

"I got lost in the building." He said clearly not bothering to be embarrassed.

The man nodded. "Please do not try to be late again, Mr. Evans." That surprised Harry, he expected a much harsher tone and reprieve. Harry was ashamed to admit it but he had judged the man based on appearance. The man did not look unkind but he looked unpleasant. A closer look and Harry realized the lines on his face were the product of laughing and not yelling.

"Now, if you'd take a seat, I'll be with you shortly." The man paused. "My name is Robert Dunes, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here, sir." Harry replied automatically. Harry pulled out a notebook and out of his bag. He fumbled with the pen slightly frowning before he realized that he was trying to hold it like a quill. He played with the pen as he let his thoughts go astray.

This was his first official class as a training watcher. Harry really had no idea what to expect from a class called demonology. The idea of studying demons sounded simple until Harry sat down and realized he had no basic clue as to where begin. He frowned wondering what would be considered a demon by their standards. i Would werewolves be considered demons? /i He frowned. He'd have to ask.

A few minutes passed and Harry spent them doodling on his notebook before Dunes walked over to him. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Evans but we're a bit understaffed and this class is eclectic."

"Eclectic?" Harry asked.

"Yes, most of these watchers are either studying their demons or on other various other tasks that would not fall under any normal classes. You on the other hand are vary late in class and have a very short amount of time to learn what the normal classes would have a few more months than you to learn." He frowned. "I was told that it would be nearly impossible to have a correspondence course as well. Either way, all of you are still in training, I'm here to make sure that you learn the proper information." He shook his head. "Two weeks ago, Phillip here," he pointed to a younger man in a corner sitting with a laptop. "was studying the mating habits of unicorns. I don't know what gave him the impression that was vital."

"Unicorns are real though." Harry added carefully.

"Hm?" Dunes questioned as if he'd been cut off short. "Oh, yes, but of course they are! Rare and notoriously difficult to find but they exist." He shook his head. "Now the mating habits of other demons? That is important. It's usually not necessary to kill unicorn, nor is it a good idea." Harry nodded.

"Now, I first need to know the extent of you knowledge with demons. Would you perhaps be willing to write down a list of supernatural creatures that you know about and what you know about them?" Seeing Harry's dismayed look than smiled. "It won't need to be an essay, Mr. Evans, you can list them out if you need to."

Harry nodded wondering how many magical creatures he should put down but decided that if they hadn't hear of any before he could always blame the creature on a movie or fantasy book. Feeling mischievous, he began writing his list. After Harry put his pen down, he waited until he had Dunes attention before handing over the few papers.

"Mr. Evans," The man groaned. "not you too!"

Harry looked at him innocently. "What's the matter?"

"Why did you feel the need to start the list wit' Godzilla?"

"You said the creatures I knew."

Dunes sighed before glaring at him. "Fine. You do know there was never such a creature?"

Harry gave him a look. "I'm not that crazy, Professor."

"Please, Mr. Evans, call me Robert."

"Harry, then."

"Agreed." Dunes said as he held out his hand. Harry shook it and for a moment felt a bit more normal. "Now, Harry, lets see what you have."

Harry waited as Dunes began to write a few things down next to his notes but only crossed out a few creatures from the list stating that they didn't exist or were rare harmless enough that he wouldn't need to worry about them. The creatures on the list that did not exist was the hippogriph although Dunes admitted there was no evidence to back this claim only lack of sightings and the blast-ended skrewt. On the rare list were dementors, --although they had originally been on the do not exist list until a bit of discussion had Dunes jotting an alternative name--veelas, and unicorns.

"You have a rather good list here," Dunes said looking pleased and slightly relieved. "seeing as we are running out of time, I'll get you started on the texts we use." he pulled a few disks out of some drawer and handed them to Harry. "These are the portable versions, please do no loose them, we need those and you will be getting a few copies of books to work with." The man said quickly as if he'd had this conversation so many times before and was both weary and annoyed by it.

"Thank you," Harry said unwilling to admit that he had difficulty with the computer. He figured he could always ask the librarian as he had at the public library. "I'm going to lunch now, could you point me toward the cafeteria?" Harry asked not wanting to lose himself again and go hungry as a result.

"Of course, just take the elevator to the third floor." At Harry's stare he added, "The elevator is down the hall to the right, take a left at the water fountain and you'll see it."

"Thank you, sir." Harry said thankful.

"No problem." With that, Harry left following the instructions, and thankful to actually end up at the third floor with no incidents, he didn't want to think too much for the moment. He looked around and saw no one he knew. He shrugged taking into account that it was his first official day.

He got a bit of food, wondering when he'd have to pay for something as any money he offered was quickly rejected, and was invited to sit down with a few teenage girls that had spotted his nervous glances.

After Harry finished his lunch, he headed toward his next class, Greek. He smiled, he didn't have any real classes today, they were all covers classes and as much as Harry was eager to see what being a slayer meant, the thought of also training to be a watcher didn't appeal to him any more as he sat down from his next class.

0---------------------------0

Harry looked up from the book on his lap as the door to the study opened. Olmo entered looking tired. "Hello, Harry. How was your day?"

"Fine. I'm looking up a few 'demons', didn't know pixies counted as demons." Harry said wondering how much of this information he knew by another name. "This is almost like a twisted case Care of Magical Creatures mixed in with Defense," he said with disgust as he shoved the thick book away from him. Harry grimaced as the book got its revenge by giving him a well-placed paper cut.

The watcher nodded looking a bit amused. "Dinner's ready," He told Harry. "I can't very well but it's not too bad."

Harry shook his head. "I can cook," he said as he stood up and as he stretched said, "I'll cook next time." When the watcher opened his mouth to protest Harry cut him. "I'll do it, I won't be here long enough for it to bother me," Harry explained. "I feel kind of useless aside from studying I haven't done much of anything."

The watcher nodded reluctantly. "C'mon then," Harry followed feeling both tired and invigorated because tomorrow looked more interesting than today.

0-------------------------0

Harry grunted as he hit the mat. It still hurt the same but Harry found it odd not to be wincing from it as he was used to. So far trying to overcome the trainer was difficult. Harry winced when he saw one of the larger men in the class fall with a loud crash.

"You're not paying attention!" The trainer, Richard Strauss, snarled, "Power does not equal skill!"

Yeah, Harry found this to be a much more interesting day as the second man fell onto the mat. He stood up as he was offered a hand by one of the older students. "Thanks," Or so he wanted to say before he found himself in another move. Moving with reflexes both natural and supernatural, Harry landed easily but not before grabbing his attacker and bringing him down under him. Harry grimaced as his arm moved in an unpleasant fashion.

Strauss ran to them. "Congratulations, Evans, you're not a lost cause!" The older man slapped his hand on Harry's back. "Now can you tell us what you did?"

"Not really." Harry said realizing he held everybody's attention. "I just acted." The man nodded. 

"Understandable," He looked at the class. "now do it again." Harry scrunched his nose in distaste before being pulled up by the young man who'd flipped him.

"I'm Theodore Strauss," he grinned.

"Harry Evans," Harry groaned out as he cautiously took the other man's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Evans."

"You too, Strauss." He avoided the larger man's reach and smiled.

Harry was invigorated after the class as he was thrown and learned to throw. He practically skipped to his next class, weapons training. Of course, Harry made sure he didn't look too eager because a small part of Harry's mind was still thinking this was a large elaborate trap and held his suspicions until he could be sure.


End file.
